Veteran Mike DeVaney Rides Rollercoaster into PBA Chameleon Championship Qualifying Lead

RENO, Nev. – Mike DeVaney, now a part-time competitor in his 25th year of Professional Bowlers Association competition, had one of those days that reminded him he can still bowl with the best as he rolled into the qualifying lead in the PBA Chameleon Championship, presented by HotelPlanner.com, Wednesday at the National Bowling Stadium.

The Chameleon Championship is the second of four animal pattern qualifying stages leading to the PBA World Championship finals that will air live on ESPN on Sunday, Dec. 11, at 1 p.m. ET.

DeVaney, 43, averaged 236.6, bowling games of 255, 244, 290, 289, 155, 279, 181 and 200 to finish with a 1,893 pinfall total and a 13-pin lead over Canada’s Patrick Girard. Both players, along with the other top eight finishers, earned first-round byes in the best-of-five-game Chameleon elimination match play rounds that will take place next Tuesday and Thursday.

“That was a rollercoaster,” DeVaney, a two-time PBA Tour winner from Temecula, Calif., said. “I was all over the place; hot early, cold late.

“I don’t bowl full-time anymore, so it’s always nice to have some success to prove to myself I can still bowl with the best,” he added. “It’s been a while. Hopefully I can carry it over to the rest of the event.”

DeVaney, who won his last title in the 2009 Scorpion Championship during the inaugural PBA World Series of Bowling, said the bowlers he was paired with (Germany’s Pascal Winternheimer, PJ Haggerty of Roseville, Calif., and Zeke Bayt of Westerville, Ohio) helped keep him on track.

“The guys I was bowling with were very focused, so that helped me bowl stay in concert with them,” he said. “Everyone was kind of cheering each other on, so it made it much easier to stay in the moment.”

Girard, a 33-year-old 13-year PBA member, posted games of 267, 227, 213, 215, 264, 209, 247 and 238 for his 1,880 pins on the 43-foot Chameleon oiling pattern. It was a performance that also moved him up from 29th place after the Cheetah Championship round to fourth place as qualifying for the PBA World Championship hit the halfway point.

It was, he said, “a good day, a really good day.”

Girard, the self-proclaimed “old man” among Canadian players who are making their mark in PBA Tour competition this year, finished fourth twice in 2005 PBA Tour events, but continues his quest for a title. He was well aware a Canadian had never won on the PBA Tour until this year when Ontario’s Graham Fach became the first, winning the Barbasol PBA Players Championship at age 24, followed by 23-year-old Francois Lavoie, a fellow Quebec native, winning the U.S. Open earlier in November.

“I was really happy for Francois, and for Graham as well. Just to see those kids coming from our country doing so well was really wonderful,” Girard said. “I’m the old guy now, so it’s really a privilege just to lead this tournament against all of these young kids.

“I don’t want to make (a title) my goal,” he continued. “That’s obviously the ultimate goal, but I just want to bowl consistent. As long as I stay consistent and don’t miss too many spares, that’s my goal. Today I only missed one spare. It was a really good day. Now my goal is to make one TV show this year.

“I want to be like Francois when he won the Masters – just stick to the process of making good shots. I need to stay steady with my emotions. I tend to get a little excited, but for right now, just keep it steady. When the time comes, I’ll let it all go.”

In another highlight of the Chameleon round, Shaoyi Liu, who uses the Asian “spinner” technique, missed becoming the first bowler from China to cash in PBA competition when he finished 26th, one pin behind Haggerty and Dave Wodka of Beavercreek, Ohio, who tied for the 24th berth in the match play eliminations. In the subsequent one-game roll-off for 24th place, Wodka defeated Haggerty, 219-202, to advance to match play.

Tuesday’s stars, 28-year-old fourth-year PBA members Brandon Novak of Chillicothe, Ohio, and BJ Moore III of Greensburg, Pa., followed up their one-two finishes in the Cheetah round with solid Chameleon rounds to remain one-two after 16 games of PBA World Championship qualifying. Novak finished with 3,817 pins while Moore had a 3,741 total.

WSOB VIII competition continues Thursday with qualifying in the PBA Scorpion Championship presented by Reno Tahoe USA. The Scorpion round is the third of four stages in PBA World Championship qualifying. After the Shark Championship stage on Friday, the top 42 players based on 32-game pinfall totals for the four animal patterns will advance to the PBA World Championship cashers on Sunday.

All qualifying and match play elimination rounds in the World Series are being covered live, exclusively by PBA’s online live-streaming service, Xtra Frame. To sign up for an Xtra Frame subscription, visit xtraframe.tv.

PBA CHAMELEON CHAMPIONSHIP
presented by HotelPlanner.com
National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev., Wednesday

Final Standings (after 8 games; top 24 advance to best-of-five-game match play elimination round on Tuesday, Dec. 6; top 8 earn byes for the Round of 24):

1, Mike DeVaney, Winchester, Calif., 1,893.
2, Patrick Girard, Canada, 1,880.
3, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 1,877.
4, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 1,866.
5, Matthew McNiel, Minneapolis, Minn., 1,863.
6, Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, 1,859.
7, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 1,854.
8, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 1,853.
9, Patrick Dombrowski, Parma, Ohio, 1,852.
10, Sam Cooley, Australia, 1,849.
11, Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 1,842.
12, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,822.
13, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 1,821.
14, Mik Stampe, Denmark, 1,813.
15 (tie), Osku Palermaa, Finland, and Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 1,812.
17, Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, 1,811.
18 (tie), Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., and A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 1,807.
20, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 1,805.
21, Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., 1,795.
22, B.J. Moore III, Greensburg, Pa., 1,792.
23, Jeff Evans, Supply, N.C., 1,791.
24, x-Dave Wodka, Beavercreek, Ohio, 1,789.

Failed to advance:

25, PJ Haggerty, Roseville, Calif., 1,789.
26 (tie), Liu Shaoyi, China, and Daniel Fransson, Sweden, 1,788.
28, Dom Barrett, England, 1,786.
29, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,778.
30, Kevin Donovan, Painted Post, N.Y., 1,774.
31 (tie), Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y.; Chris Arcaro, Wilmington, N.C.; Mohamed Janahi, Bahrain, and Darren Tang, San Francisco, Calif., 1,770.
35, Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 1,766.
36 (tie), Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., and Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 1,761.
38, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 1,760.
39, Stuart Williams, England, 1,758.
40 (tie), Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., and John Furey, Freehold, N.J., 1,754.
42, Anton Ahlgren, Sweden, 1,751.
43, Patrick Allen, South Salem, N.Y., 1,748.
44, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 1,747.
45, Jonathan Wilbur, North Clarendon, Vt., 1,742.
46, Kristopher Prather, Milton, Fla., 1,741.
47 (tie), Markus Jansson, Sweden, and David Haynes, Las Vegas, 1,740.
49, Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas, 1,736.
50, Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., 1,734.
51, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,733.
52 (tie), Francois Louw, South Africa; Jon Van Hees, Charlestown, R.I., and Jason Sterner, Cocoa, Fla., 1,732.
55, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 1,731.
56, Tobias Boerding, Germany, 1,724.
57 (tie), David Krol, Nixa, Mo.; Nicholas Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., and Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 1,722.
60 (tie), Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., and Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,721.
62 (tie), Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., and Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 1,719.
64, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 1,716.
65, Lucas Legnani, Argentina, 1,715.
66 (tie), Hashim Guinomla, Philippines; Kevin Croucher, Grants Pass, Ore., and Jason Belmonte, Australia, 1,714.
69, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 1,713.
70, Cameron Weier, Tacoma, Wash., 1,711.
71 (tie), Carsten Hansen, Denmark, and Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,706.
73 (tie), Lars Nielsen, Denmark, and Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 1,702.
75 (tie), Johnathan Bower, Middletown, Pa., and LeVinc Samuels, Bermuda, 1,697.
77, Benjamin Canfield, Tempe, Ariz., 1,694.
78, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 1,693.
79, Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa., 1,692.
80 (tie), Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., and Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 1,687.
82 (tie), Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., and Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 1,685.
84, Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, 1,682.
85, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 1,680.
86 (tie), w-Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., and Steven Arehart, Chesapeake, Va., 1,676.
88, Ray Teece, England, 1,675.
89 (tie), Wang Hongbo, China, and Ron Mohr, Las Vegas, 1,673.
91, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 1,672.
92, Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., 1,671.
93 (tie), Matthew O’Grady, South Amboy, N.J., and J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich., 1,668.
95, Zhiyong Wang, China, 1,666.
96, Andrew Graff, Las Vegas, 1,662.
97, Pontus Andersson, Sweden, 1,660.
98, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 1,659.
99, Russell Lopes, Carmichael, Calif., 1,658.
100, Craig LeMond, Jasper, Ind., 1,653.
101 (tie), Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., and Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 1,652.
103, Daria Pajak, Poland, 1,650.
104, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 1,649.
105, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 1,647.
106, Wang Dali, China, 1,646.
107, Aaron Lorincz, Belleville, Mich., 1,645.
108, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 1,644.
109, Jesse Buss, Belvidere, Ill., 1,642.
110 (tie), Zhongli Mi, China, and Isaac Russell, Malaysia, 1,640.
112, Brad Miller, Maryland Heights, Mo., 1,638.
113 (tie), Noel Vazquez, Sacramento, Calif., and Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,633.
115 (tie), Andrew Cain, Phoenix, and w-Summer Jasmin, Beckley, W.Va., 1,632.
117, Richie Teece, England, 1,627.
118, Graham Fach, Canada, 1,626.
119, Paul Moor, England, 1,623.
120, Pascal Winternheimer, Germany, 1,612.
121 (tie), Michael Wittendorff, Denmark; Blake Demore, Springfield, Mo., and Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 1,611.
124, Zhang Haitao, China, 1,610.
125, Michael Duran, Banning, Calif., 1,607.
126 (tie), Kim Bolleby, Thailand; Kristian Rogers, Salisbury, N.C.; Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., and Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 1,604.
130, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 1,602.
131, Brett Cooper, Denver, 1,599.
132, w-Liz Kuhlkin, Rotterdam, N.Y., 1,598.
133, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 1,594.
134, Matthew Wozney, Clayton, Del., 1,588.
135, w-Anggie Ramirez, Colombia, 1,587.
136, Casey Knutson, Sparks, Nev., 1,586.
137, Chris Bolosan, Newport News, Va., 1,584.
138, w-Ingelimar Beasley, Venezuela, 1,566.
139, Tim Frenz, Dickinson, N.D., 1,562.
140, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 1,552.
141, w-Ashly Galante, Palm Harbor, Fla., 1,548.
142 (tie), Xu Chen, China, and Lou Yi, China, 1,546.
144, Clint Land, Houston, 1,542.
145, w-April Lord Wittig, Steilacoom, Wash., 1,540.
146, Yong-Jin Gu, South Korea, 1,538.
147, David Maycock, Bermuda, 1,528.
148, Jeremy Mooney, West Palm Beach, Fla., 1,525.
149, Brett Cunningham, Clay, N.Y., 1,522.
150, Cody McCowin, Daytona Beach, Fla., 1,511.
151, Derek Handy, Redmond, Wash., 1,500.
152, Adam Wilson, Reno, Nev., 1,497.
153, Rickai Binns, Bermuda, 1,493.
154, Martin Bedford, Altus, Okla., 1,492.
155, John Szczerbinski, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., 1,491.
156, Mateo Hernandez, Argentina, 1,489.
157, Steve Ford, Seaside, Ore., 1,487.
158, Ryan Graywacz, Feeding Hills, Mass., 1,484.
159, Douglas Hankins, Boise, Idaho, 1,476.
160, Agustin Aranguren, Argentina, 1,471.
161, Stephen Bennett, Hampton, Va., 1,438.
162, Jonathan Hocsman, Argentina, 1,434.
163, J.T. Jackson, Sherman Oaks, Calif., 1,408.
164, Qi Wankang, China, 1,399.
165, Will Vidulich, Parsippany, N.J., 1,387.
166, Cody Copeland, Abilene, Texas, 1,370.
167, Xiao Lu, China, 1,357.
168, w-Jill Creamer, Folsom, Calif., 1,342.
169, Adrian McCoy, British Virgin Islands, 1,284.

x-Wodka def. Haggerty, 219-202, in a one-game roll-off to break a tie for 24th place.

300 Games: Carsten Hansen.

PBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Qualifying Standings (after 16 of 32 games; 8 games each in Cheetah and Chameleon Championship rounds):

1, Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, 3,817.
2, B.J. Moore III, Greensburg, Pa., 3,741.
3, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 3,676.
4, Patrick Girard, Canada, 3,668.
5, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 3,647.
6, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 3,641.
7, Dom Barrett, England, 3,633.
8 (tie), Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., and Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., 3,631.
10, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 3,619.
11, Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 3,612.
12, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 3,604.
13, Dave Wodka, Beavercreek, Ohio, 3,601.
14, Patrick Dombrowski, Parma, Ohio, 3,589.
15, Francois Louw, South Africa, 3,586.
16, Darren Tang, San Francisco, Calif., 3,571.
17, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 3,566.
18, Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, 3,564.
19, Sam Cooley, Australia, 3,563.
20, Matthew McNiel, Minneapolis, Minn., 3,553.
21, Daniel Fransson, Sweden, 3,549.
22, Liu Shaoyi, China, 3,544.
23, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 3,537.
24, Kevin Donovan, Painted Post, N.Y., 3,535.
25, Mike DeVaney, Winchester, Calif., 3,527.
26, Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., 3,524.
27, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 3,521.
28, Daria Pajak, Poland, 3,520.
29, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 3,516.
30, Chris Arcaro, Wilmington, N.C., 3,511.
31 (tie), Martin Larsen, Sweden, and Osku Palermaa, Finland, 3,504.
33, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 3,502.
34, John Furey, Freehold, N.J., 3,501.
35, Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 3,497.
36, Brad Miller, Maryland Heights, Mo., 3,495.
37 (tie), PJ Haggerty, Roseville, Calif., and Matthew O’Grady, South Amboy, N.J., 3,494.
39, Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa., 3,489.
40 (tie), Jeff Evans, Supply, N.C.; Cameron Weier, Tacoma, Wash., and Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 3,488.
43, Patrick Allen, South Salem, N.Y., 3,486.
44, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 3,485.
45, ss-Ron Mohr, Las Vegas, 3,484.
46, Mik Stampe, Denmark, 3,483.
47, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 3,482.
48, Pascal Winternheimer, Germany, 3,480.
49, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 3,478.
50, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 3,475.
51, Andrew Graff, Las Vegas, 3,470.
52, Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 3,469.
53, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3,465.
54, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 3,464.
55, Zhiyong Wang, China, 3,462.
56, Jason Sterner, Cocoa, Fla., 3,459.
57, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 3,455.
58, J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich., 3,454.
59, Richie Teece, England, 3,452.
60, Kristopher Prather, Milton, Fla., 3,451.
61, Jon Van Hees, Charlestown, R.I., 3,450.
62, Markus Jansson, Sweden, 3,449.
63, Stuart Williams, England, 3,446.
64, Anton Ahlgren, Sweden, 3,445.
65 (tie), Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev.; Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., and w-Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,443.
68, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 3,442.
69, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 3,439.
70 (tie), Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix; Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., and Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 3,437.
73, Carsten Hansen, Denmark, 3,436.
74, David Haynes, Las Vegas, 3,434.
75, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 3,432.
76, Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas, 3,429.
77, Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 3,427.
78, A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 3,426.
79, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 3,424.
80, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 3,408.
81, Lucas Legnani, Argentina, 3,402.
82, Mohamed Janahi, Bahrain, 3,396.
83 (tie), Benjamin Canfield, Tempe, Ariz., and Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, 3,392.
85, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 3,385.
86, Jesse Buss, Belvidere, Ill., 3,372.
87, Steven Arehart, Chesapeake, Va., 3,369.
88 (tie), Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., and Nicholas Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., 3,368.
90, Noel Vazquez, Sacramento, Calif., 3,360.
91, Johnathan Bower, Middletown, Pa., 3,354.
92, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,352.
93, Pontus Andersson, Sweden, 3,345.
94, Craig LeMond, Jasper, Ind., 3,340.
95, Jonathan Wilbur, North Clarendon, Vt., 3,326.
96, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 3,325.
97, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 3,321.
98, Graham Fach, Canada, 3,316.
99 (tie), Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., and Wang Hongbo, China, 3,315.
101, ss-Kevin Croucher, Grants Pass, Ore., 3,307.
102, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 3,305.
103 (tie), Michael Wittendorff, Denmark, and Blake Demore, Springfield, Mo., 3,304.
105, w-Anggie Ramirez, Colombia, 3,300.
106 (tie), Aaron Lorincz, Belleville, Mich., and Hashim Guinomla, Philippines, 3,298.
108, Matthew Wozney, Clayton, Del., 3,294.
109 (tie), David Krol, Nixa, Mo., and Zhongli Mi, China, 3,293.
111, Kristian Rogers, Salisbury, N.C., 3,289.
112, Lars Nielsen, Denmark, 3,288.
113, LeVinc Samuels, Bermuda, 3,281.
114 (tie), Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, and Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 3,278.
116, Chris Bolosan, Newport News, Va., 3,272.
117, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 3,271.
118, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 3,269.
119, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 3,262.
120, Brett Cunningham, Clay, N.Y., 3,259.
121, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 3,248.
122, Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., 3,247.
123, Xu Chen, China, 3,246.
124, Ray Teece, England, 3,239.
125, Casey Knutson, Sparks, Nev., 3,238.
126, Isaac Russell, Malaysia, 3,235.
127, Brett Cooper, Denver, 3,233.
128, Tobias Boerding, Germany, 3,226.
129, Cody McCowin, Daytona Beach, Fla., 3,224.
130, Kim Bolleby, Thailand, 3,222.
131, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 3,213.
132, Wang Dali, China, 3,211.
133, Ryan Graywacz, Feeding Hills, Mass., 3,206.
134, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 3,200.
135, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 3,197.
136, Zhang Haitao, China, 3,192.
137 (tie), w-Ashly Galante, Palm Harbor, Fla., and Lou Yi, China, 3,162.
139, w-Liz Kuhlkin, Rotterdam, N.Y., 3,142.
140, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 3,139.
141, w-Summer Jasmin, Beckley, W.Va., 3,130.
142, Paul Moor, England, 3,129.
143, John Szczerbinski, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., 3,126.
144, w-Ingelimar Beasley, Venezuela, 3,124.
145, Michael Duran, Banning, Calif., 3,108.
146, Yong-Jin Gu, South Korea, 3,105.
147, Clint Land, Houston, 3,086.
148, Martin Bedford, Altus, Okla., 3,081.
149, David Maycock, Bermuda, 3,074.
150, Jonathan Hocsman, Argentina, 3,066.
151, Russell Lopes, Carmichael, Calif., 3,042.
152, w-April Lord Wittig, Steilacoom, Wash., 3,023.
153, Qi Wankang, China, 3,014.
154, ss-Steve Ford, Seaside, Ore., 3,012.
155, Agustin Aranguren, Argentina, 3,009.
156, Jeremy Mooney, West Palm Beach, Fla., 3,008.
157, Adam Wilson, Reno, Nev., 2,989.
158, Derek Handy, Redmond, Wash., 2,952.
159, Will Vidulich, Parsippany, N.J., 2,925.
160, Douglas Hankins, Boise, Idaho, 2,916.
161, Tim Frenz, Dickinson, N.D., 2,888.
162, Mateo Hernandez, Argentina, 2,870.
163, Rickai Binns, Bermuda, 2,827.
164, Stephen Bennett, Hampton, Va., 2,815.
165, w-Jill Creamer, Folsom, Calif., 2,807.
166, J.T. Jackson, Sherman Oaks, Calif., 2,803.
167, Xiao Lu, China, 2,617.
168, Cody Copeland, Abilene, Texas, 2,610.
169, Adrian McCoy, British Virgin Islands, 2,497.

w-denotes woman.